Merchant issued payment vehicles linked to preexisting financial accounts

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for linking a customer&#39;s preexisting financial account to a merchant issued payment vehicle. If an account number associated with the preexisting financial account changes, the linking of the merchant issued payment vehicle is updated with an updated account number.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The systems and methods described below relate generally to the field ofmerchant issued payment vehicles. More particularly, the systems andmethods relate to the field of linking a merchant issued payment vehicleto a preexisting financial account.

BACKGROUND

Merchants can issue their own payment vehicles to customers as a meansfor payment with the merchant. These types of payment vehicles aretypically only accepted for payment with the merchant and are linked toeither 1) a dedicated financial account (e.g., a credit account) that isestablished during issuance of the payment vehicle to the customer or 2)a financial account that is settled through an Automated Clearing House(ACH) payment network (e.g., a decoupled debit card). In the firstinstance, these types of payments vehicle can be issued to the customeronce a line of credit is established with the merchant, a third partyissuer financial institution, or any of a variety of other suitableentities. In the second instance, these types of payment vehicles can bea decoupled debit card that is linked to the customer's checking accountand for which purchase transactions are settled over the ACH network.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, the present disclosure is directed, in part, to acomputer-implemented method. The computer-implement method comprisesreceiving an enrollment communication from a merchant computing device,the enrollment communication comprising a payment vehicle accountnumber, wherein the payment vehicle account number is associated with apreexisting financial account, and wherein the merchant computing deviceis associated with a merchant and subsequent to receiving the enrollmentcommunication from the merchant computing device, linking a merchantissued payment vehicle to the payment vehicle account number, whereinthe merchant issued payment vehicle is associated with a merchant issuedpayment vehicle account number. The payment vehicle account number isdifferent from the merchant issued payment vehicle account number. Themethod further comprises, subsequent to linking the merchant issuedpayment vehicle to the payment vehicle account number, changing thelinked payment vehicle account number to an updated payment vehicleaccount number.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure is directed, in part, to amerchant issued payment vehicle system. The system comprises a merchantissued payment vehicle and a payment processor. The merchant issuedpayment vehicle has a unique identification number encoded on it. Theunique identification number is linked to an account number associatedwith an account, the account being associated with a PIN-based paymentvehicle and a customer loyalty program of a merchant. The paymentprocessor is configured to receive an authorization request from amerchant computing device when the merchant issued payment vehicle isintroduced to the merchant computing device, wherein the authorizationrequest comprises the unique identification number and a requested fundamount, and when sufficient funds are available in the account, cause anamount of available funds in the account associated with the PIN-basedpayment vehicle to be decreased by the requested fund amount. Thepayment processor is further configured to, when insufficient funds areavailable, provide a nonsufficient funds message to the merchantcomputing device.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure is directed, in part, to amethod. The method comprises activating a merchant issued paymentvehicle associated with a merchant, wherein activating the merchantissued payment vehicle. Activating the merchant issued payment vehiclecomprises receiving at a payment processor in communication with amerchant computing device of the merchant, an account number of aPIN-based payment vehicle of a customer, linking a unique account numberof the merchant issued payment vehicle to the account number of thePIN-based payment vehicle of a customer, and linking the unique accountnumber of the merchant issued payment vehicle to a customer loyaltyaccount of the merchant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is believed that certain embodiments will be better understood fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts a system according to one embodiment which includes amerchant that sells products and/or services and various entities withina payment ecosystem.

FIG. 2 schematically depicts one example of communication among variousentities of the system of FIG. 1 for linking a merchant issued paymentvehicle to a customer's preexisting financial account.

FIG. 3 schematically depicts another example of communication amongvarious entities of the system of FIG. 1 for linking a merchant issuedpayment vehicle to a customer's preexisting financial account.

FIG. 4 schematically depicts an example of communication among variousentities of the system of FIG. 1 for linking a customer's loyaltyrewards account to a merchant issued payment vehicle.

FIG. 5 depicts an example computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of systems and methods disclosed herein forproviding a merchant issued payment vehicle and to linking a customer'spreexisting financial account to the merchant issued payment vehicle.One or more examples of these non-limiting embodiments are illustratedin the selected examples disclosed and described in detail withreference made to FIGS. 1-5 in the accompanying drawings. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that systems and methodsspecifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings are non-limiting embodiments. The features illustrated ordescribed in connection with one non-limiting embodiment may be combinedwith the features of other non-limiting embodiments. Such modificationsand variations are intended to be included within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods disclosed herein aredescribed in detail by way of examples and with reference to thefigures. The examples discussed herein are examples only and areprovided to assist in the explanation of the apparatuses, devices,systems and methods described herein. None of the features or componentsshown in the drawings or discussed below should be taken as mandatoryfor any specific implementation of any of these the apparatuses,devices, systems or methods unless specifically designated as mandatory.For ease of reading and clarity, certain components, modules, or methodsmay be described solely in connection with a specific figure. In thisdisclosure, any identification of specific techniques, arrangements,etc. are either related to a specific example presented or are merely ageneral description of such a technique, arrangement, etc.Identifications of specific details or examples are not intended to be,and should not be, construed as mandatory or limiting unlessspecifically designated as such. Any failure to specifically describe acombination or sub-combination of components should not be understood asan indication that any combination or sub-combination is not possible.It will be appreciated that modifications to disclosed and describedexamples, arrangements, configurations, components, elements,apparatuses, devices, systems, methods, etc. can be made and may bedesired for a specific application. Also, for any methods described,regardless of whether the method is described in conjunction with a flowdiagram, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified orrequired by context, any explicit or implicit ordering of stepsperformed in the execution of a method does not imply that those stepsmust be performed in the order presented but instead may be performed ina different order or in parallel.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” “some example embodiments,” “one exampleembodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with any embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,”“some example embodiments,” “one example embodiment, or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Throughout this disclosure, references to components or modulesgenerally refer to items that logically can be grouped together toperform a function or group of related functions. Like referencenumerals are generally intended to refer to the same or similarcomponents. Components and modules can be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The term “software”is used expansively to include not only executable code, for examplemachine-executable or machine-interpretable instructions, but also datastructures, data stores and computing instructions stored in anysuitable electronic format, including firmware, and embedded software.The terms “information” and “data” are used expansively and includes awide variety of electronic information, including executable code;content such as text, video data, and audio data, among others; andvarious codes or flags. The terms “information,” “data,” and “content”are sometimes used interchangeably when permitted by context. It shouldbe noted that although for clarity and to aid in understanding someexamples discussed herein might describe specific features or functionsas part of a specific component or module, or as occurring at a specificlayer of a computing device (for example, a hardware layer, operatingsystem layer, or application layer), those features or functions may beimplemented as part of a different component or module or operated at adifferent layer of a communication protocol stack. Those of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that the systems, apparatuses, devices,and methods described herein can be applied to, or easily modified foruse with, other types of equipment, can use other arrangements ofcomputing systems such as client-server distributed systems, and can useother protocols, or operate at other layers in communication protocolstacks, than are described.

For simplicity, the description that follows will be provided byreference to a “payment vehicle,” which generally refers to any type offinancial alternative to currency. As is to be clear to those skilled inthe art, no aspect of the present disclosure is specifically limited toa specific type of payment vehicle. Therefore, it is intended that thefollowing description encompasses the use of the present disclosure withmany other forms of financial alternatives to currency, including creditcards, debit cards, smart cards, single-use cards, pre-paid cards,electronic currency (such as might be provided through a cellulartelephone or personal digital assistant), and the like. Payment vehiclescan be traditional plastic transaction cards, titanium-containing, orother metal-containing, transaction cards, clear and/or translucenttransaction cards, foldable or otherwise unconventionally-sizedtransaction cards, radio-frequency enabled transaction cards, or othertypes of transaction cards, such as credit, charge, debit, pre-paid orstored-value cards, or any other like financial transaction instrument.A payment vehicle can also have electronic functionality provided by anetwork of electronic circuitry that is printed or otherwiseincorporated onto or within the payment vehicle (and typically referredto as a “smart card”), or be a fob having a transponder and an RFIDreader.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an example payment system 10. In theexample payment system 10, a payment vehicle 12 (e.g., a debit card) canbe issued to an account holder 13 by an issuer financial institution 14.The issuer financial institution 14 can be any of a variety of financialinstitutions that is capable of issuing a payment vehicle to an accountholder. The payment vehicle 12 can be used to pay a merchant 16 for apayment vehicle transaction at a merchant computing system 18.

The merchant computing system 18 can include any device that facilitatesreceipt of a payment vehicle for payment of a purchase, such as forexample, a point of sale (POS) device 18 a (e.g., a terminal or a webinterface) a customer service device 18 b, and a payment vehicleterminal 18 c. When a transaction is initiated at the merchant computingsystem 18, the merchant computing system can send transaction data 19for the payment vehicle transaction to an acquirer processor 22 thatprocesses payment vehicle transactions for the merchant 16. Thetransaction data 19 can include an authorization request 20 thatcomprises identifying information from the payment vehicle 12, such as aBIN number, an expiration date, and a first and last name of the accountholder, for example. The authorization request 20 can also includeidentifying information from the purchase such as an amount andidentifying information from the merchant computing system 18 and/or themerchant 16, for example. A payment processing computing system 24 atthe acquirer processor 22 can receive the authorization request 20. Thepayment processing computing system 24 can translate the authorizationrequest 20, if necessary, and can provide the authorization request 20to a payment network 26. The payment network 26 can be, for example, anetwork of a credit card associations affiliated with the paymentvehicle 26. Non-limiting examples of credit card associations includeVISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER, and AMERICAN EXPRESS. The authorizationrequest 20 can then be provided to a payment processing computing system28 at an issuer processor 30. In response to receiving the authorizationrequest, the payment processing computing system 28 can provide theauthorization request 20 to the issuer financial institution 14. Usinginformation from the authorization request 20, the issuer financialinstitution 14 can associate the payment vehicle transaction with anaccount 31 of the account holder 13 held by the issuer financialinstitution 14. The issuer financial institution 14 can then send anauthorization response 32 which can either approve or deny thetransaction. The authorization response 32 can be provided to thepayment processing computing system 28 at the issuer processor 30 andthen provided to the payment network 26. The authorization response 32can then be provided to the payment processing computing system 24 atthe acquirer processor 22. Upon receiving the authorization response 32,the payment processing computing system 24 can send either an approvalmessage or a denial message to the merchant computing system 18 tocomplete the payment vehicle transaction. If the payment vehicletransaction is approved, it can be posted to the account holder'saccount 31 and reconciled later with the account holder 13 and themerchant 16.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the account holder 13 can be a member of acustomer loyalty program 36 of the merchant 16. The customer loyaltyprogram 36 can be hosted by the merchant 18 or a third party. Theaccount holder 13 can be issued a loyalty card 38 that is associatedwith a customer loyalty account number 40. The customer loyalty accountnumber 40 can be unique to the account holder 13. When the accountholder 13 engages in a financial interaction with the merchant 16 andpresents the loyalty card 38 to the merchant computing device 18, theaccount holder's activity with the merchant 16 (e.g., purchases,returns, redemption of coupons) can be logged at the customer loyaltyprogram 36 according to the account holder's customer loyalty accountnumber 40. Using the data gathered from the account holder 13, themerchant 16 can provide incentives to the account holder 13 such asreward programs and targeted marketing.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 a merchant issued (MI) payment vehicle 42 canbe issued to the account holder 13. The MI payment vehicle 42 can bemerchant-specific such that it can only be accepted for financialtransactions with the merchant 16. As will be described in furtherdetail below, the MI payment vehicle 42 can be linked to a preexistingfinancial account of the account holder 13. The term “preexistingfinancial account” as used herein can be understood to mean anyfinancial account (e.g., credit account, checking account, prepaid cardaccount) for which access to funds is available prior to issuance of theMI payment vehicle and for which transactions at a merchant are notsettled to the merchant through an Automated Clearing House (ACH)payment network.

It is noted that payment vehicles conventionally issued by, or otherwiseaffiliated with, a particular merchant are typically linked to either 1)a dedicated financial account (e.g., a credit account) that isestablished at the time the payment vehicle is issued or 2) a financialaccount that is settled through a non-Automated Clearing House (ACH)payment network (e.g., a decoupled debit card). In the first instance,the payment vehicle can be issued to a qualifying customer only after aline of credit is established with the merchant, a third party issuerfinancial institution, or any of a variety of other suitable entities.In the second instance, the payment vehicle can be referred to as adecoupled debit card, as it is linked to the customer's checkingaccount, typically through a bank account number and a routing number.Purchase transactions involving the decoupled debit card are settledover the ACH network, much like how a check is processed. It should beappreciated that utilizing the ACH network for such transactions can beundesirable to some merchants as the ACH network does not provide theability to check for a non-sufficient funds (NSF) condition prior toauthorization of a transaction. Additionally, account holders mayundesirably incur processing fees and/or penalty fees if an NSFcondition exists at the time of settlement.

In accordance with certain embodiments, systems, apparatus, and methodsare provided for linking a customer's preexisting financial account toan MI payment vehicle. In one embodiment, the acquirer processor 22 canfacilitate linking of the customer's preexisting financial account tothe MI payment vehicle 42. As illustrated in FIG. 2, when the accountholder 13 wishes to obtain an MI payment vehicle with the merchant 16,the merchant computer device 18 can first obtain the account holder'spayment vehicle account number 44 (e.g., BIN number or other identifyinginformation) from a preexisting payment vehicle (e.g., 12). Thepreexisting payment vehicle can be a PIN-based payment vehicle, such asa debit card or a gift card, for example, a stored card, a credit card,or any of a variety of other suitable payment vehicles that are alreadyassociated with a preexisting financial account. It will be appreciatedthat the merchant computer device 18 can obtain the payment vehicleaccount number 44 in a similar manner as a card-present transaction(e.g., by swiping the payment vehicle 12 or physically entering thepayment vehicle account number 44 via a keyboard at any of the POSdevice 18 a, the customer service device 18 b, and the terminal 18 c) oras a non-card present transaction (e.g., online or via telephone). Themerchant computer device 18 can then provide an enrollment communication46 to the acquirer processor 22 that comprises payment vehicle data 47.The payment vehicle data 47 can include the payment vehicle accountnumber 44 as well as other information for the payment vehicle. Forexample, if the payment vehicle is a PIN-based payment vehicle, such asa debit card or a gift card, the payment vehicle data 47 can include thepayment vehicle account number 44 and the PIN number for the paymentvehicle. The PIN number can be entered by the account holder 13 into akeypad associated with the merchant computing system 18 after thepayment vehicle account number 44 has been obtained.

Upon receipt of the enrollment communication 46, the acquirer processor22 can send a request communication 50 to the merchant computing system18 requesting an MI payment vehicle account number 52 of the MI paymentvehicle 42. The merchant computing device 18 can then obtain the MIpayment vehicle account number 52 of the MI payment vehicle 42 and canprovide the MI payment vehicle account number 52 in another enrollmentcommunication 54 to the acquirer processor 22. The MI payment vehicleaccount number 52 can be unique to the account holder 13 and can bedifferent from the payment vehicle account number 44. Once the acquirerprocessor 22 receives both enrollment communications 46, 54, theacquirer processor 22 can link the payment vehicle data 47 to the MIpayment vehicle account number 52 in an account number database 48. Theacquirer processor 22 can then transmit a confirmation communication 56to the merchant computing system 18 to indicate that the MI paymentvehicle 42 has been successfully linked to the payment vehicle accountnumber 44. Once the merchant computing system 18 receives theconfirmation communication 56, the merchant 16 can issue the MI paymentvehicle 42 to the account holder 13 for use with the merchant 16.

It will be appreciated that the MI payment vehicle account number 52 canbe generated in any of a variety of suitable manners. In one embodiment,the acquirer processor 22, or other suitable third party entity, canfacilitate creation of blank (e.g., non-issued) MI payment vehicles eachhaving a unique MI payment vehicle account number. Each MI paymentvehicle account number can be physically embossed or printed on one ofthe cards and/or encoded onto a magnetic stripe and/or RFID chip. Theblank MI payment vehicles can then be provided in bulk to the merchant16 for eventual issuance to account holders. When a customer wishes toobtain an MI payment vehicle with the merchant 16, the merchant 16 canselect one of the blank cards for the customer. Once the customer hasprovided a valid account number for a preexisting financial account tothe merchant computing system 18, the merchant 16 can input the MIpayment vehicle account number of the blank card into the merchantcomputing system 18 (e.g., by swiping the blank card or manuallyentering the MI payment vehicle account number at one of the POS device18 a, the customer service device 18 b, or the terminal 18 c) and themerchant computing system 18 can provide the MI payment vehicle accountnumber to the acquirer processor 22 for linking to the customer'spreexisting financial account. Once the MI payment vehicle accountnumber is linked to the customer's preexisting financial account, the MIpayment vehicle can be used for financial transactions with the merchant16.

In another embodiment, the acquirer processor 22, or other suitablethird party entity, can supply the merchant computing system 18 with aplurality of unique MI payment vehicle account numbers. When a customerprovides a valid account number for a preexisting financial account tothe merchant computing system 18, the merchant computing system 18 canselect one of the MI account numbers for the customer and can providethe MI payment vehicle account number to the acquirer processor 22 forlinking to the customer's preexisting financial account. Once the MIpayment vehicle account number is linked to the customer's preexistingfinancial account, the merchant 16 can issue a temporary MI paymentvehicle to the customer. The acquirer processor, or other suitable thirdparty, can then issue a permanent MI payment vehicle (e.g. an embossedcard) to the customer at a later date. In yet another embodiment, when acustomer provides a valid account number for a preexisting financialaccount to the merchant computing system 18, the merchant computingsystem 18 can generate a unique MI account number and can provide the MIpayment vehicle account number to the acquirer processor 22 for linkingto the customer's preexisting financial account. Once the MI paymentvehicle account number is linked to the customer's preexisting financialaccount, the merchant 16 can issue a temporary MI payment vehicle to thecustomer. The acquirer processor 22, or other suitable third party, canthen issue a permanent MI payment vehicle (e.g. a card) to the customerat a later date.

In yet another embodiment, the acquirer processor, or other suitablethird party can issue the MI payment vehicle account number to thecustomer upon receiving the preexisting financial information from themerchant computing system 18. An example of such an embodiment isillustrated in FIG. 3 and is similar in many respects to the systemshown in FIG. 2. For example, a merchant computing system 118 and anacquirer processor 122 are shown. However, since the acquirer processor122 can issue an MI payment vehicle account number 152 instead ofreceiving from the merchant computing system 118, the messaging betweenthe merchant computing system 118 and the acquirer processor 122 can bestreamlined. For example, when an enrollment communication 146 isprovided to the acquirer processor 122, the payment processing computingsystem 124 of the acquirer processor 122 can link payment vehicleinformation 147 to an MI payment vehicle account number 152 which canalready be stored in an account number database 148, or at least begenerated upon receiving the enrollment communication 146. The paymentvehicle data 147 can include the payment vehicle account number 144, aswell as other information for the payment vehicle. The acquirerprocessor can then transmit a confirmation communication 156 with the MIpayment vehicle account number 152 to the merchant computing system 118.Upon receiving the MI payment vehicle account number 152, the merchantcomputing system 118 can issue a temporary MI payment vehicle to theaccount holder. The acquirer processor 122, or other suitable thirdparty, can then issue a permanent MI payment vehicle (e.g. a card) tothe account holder at a later date. In some embodiments, the MI paymentvehicle 142 can additionally or alternatively be provided in anelectronic format so that the account holder can access the MI paymentvehicle via a mobile computing device.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, once the MI payment vehicle 42 hasbeen linked to a payment vehicle account number 44, the MI paymentvehicle 42 can be used to facilitate a payment transaction at themerchant 16 in lieu of presenting the payment vehicle 12. When the MIpayment vehicle 42 is used to pay the merchant 16 for a payment vehicletransaction at the merchant computing system 18, the transaction data 19received by the acquirer processor 22 can include the MI payment vehicleaccount number 52 and a request for funds in the amount of thetransaction. If the preexisting financial account is a PIN-basedaccount, the transaction data 19 can include the PIN number entered bythe account holder 13 that is associated with the preexisting financialaccount linked to the MI payment vehicle 42. The acquirer processor 22can then determine the payment vehicle account number 44 that is linkedto MI payment vehicle account number 52 in the account number database48. Using the payment vehicle account number 44 linked to the MI paymentvehicle account number 52, the acquirer processor 22 can determinewhether there are sufficient funds in the preexisting financial accountbased upon the request for funds from the transaction data. The acquirerprocessor 22 can then send an approval or denial message to the merchant18 depending upon whether there are sufficient funds or not.

It will be appreciated that the manner in which the acquirer processor22 determines whether sufficient funds are available can depend upon thetype of preexisting financial account that is linked to the MI paymentvehicle 42. For example, if the preexisting financial account is acredit-type account or a debit account, the acquirer processor 22 cansend an authorization request that includes the payment vehicle accountnumber 44, the request for funds, and a PIN (if necessary) through thepayment network 26 and to the issuer processor 30. If the preexistingfinancial account is a stored value payment vehicle, such as a gift cardor prepaid card, for example, the acquirer processor 22 can send anauthorization request that includes the payment vehicle account number44, the request for funds, and a PIN (if necessary) to the issuer of thestored value payment vehicle. In some embodiments, the acquirerprocessor 22 can be the issuer of the stored value gift card associatedwith the MI payment vehicle account number 52. In these instances, theacquirer processor 22 can compare the request for funds against theledger maintained at the acquirer processor 22 for the stored valuepayment vehicle and can send either an approval message or a denialmessage to the merchant computing system 18 based upon the fundsavailable.

It will be appreciated that, after the payment vehicle account number 44has been successfully linked to the MI payment vehicle 42, the paymentvehicle account number 44 might become invalid, such as, for example,when an updated payment vehicle is issued to the account holder 13(e.g., due to theft of the payment vehicle). When the payment vehicleaccount number 44 becomes invalid in this manner, the acquirer processor22 can obtain the updated payment vehicle account number from the issuerof the payment vehicle. In some embodiments, account updating servicesof various card associations, such as VISA and MASTER CARD, can beutilized by the acquirer processor 22 to facilitate the updating of theaccount information. Upon obtaining an update, the acquirer processor 22can link the updated payment vehicle account number to the MI paymentvehicle 42 in the account number database 48. The integrity of the MIpayment vehicle 42 can accordingly be seamlessly preserved without inputfrom the account holder 13 or the merchant 16 and the without issuing anew MI payment vehicle. In one embodiment, the issuer of the paymentvehicle can send the updated payment vehicle account number to theacquirer processor 22 such that MI payment vehicle 42 can beautomatically linked to the updated payment vehicle account number. Inanother embodiment, the acquirer processor 22 can request the updatedpayment vehicle account number from the issuer upon determining that theauthorization request was denied by the issuer for having an invalidaccount number.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the customer loyaltyaccount number 40 can be linked to the MI payment vehicle 42 in lieu ofor in addition to the loyalty card 38. Linking of the customer loyaltyaccount number 40 to the MI payment vehicle 42 can be same as, orsimilar to in many respects, linking of the payment vehicle accountnumber 44 to the MI payment vehicle 42 described above. For example,when the account holder 13 wishes to link the customer loyalty accountnumber 40 to the MI payment vehicle 42, the customer's customer loyaltyaccount number 40 can be entered into the merchant computing device 18and transmitted to the acquirer processor 22 in an enrollmentcommunication 58. The acquirer processor 22 can store the customerloyalty account number 40 in the account number database 48 and can senda request 50 for the MI payment vehicle account number 52. The MIpayment vehicle account number 52 can be entered into the merchantcomputing device 18 and transmitted to the acquirer processor 22 in anenrollment communication 62. Once the acquirer processor 22 receivesboth enrollment communications 58, 62, the customer loyalty accountnumber 40 can be linked to the MI payment vehicle account number 52 inthe account number database 48. The acquirer processor 22 can thentransmit a confirmation communication 64 to the merchant computingsystem 18 to indicate that the MI payment vehicle 42 has beensuccessfully linked to the customer's customer loyalty account number40.

When the MI payment vehicle 42 is used to pay the merchant 16, thetransaction data (e.g., 19 in FIG. 1) received by the acquirer processor22 can include the MI payment vehicle account number 52. Using the MIpayment vehicle account number 52, the acquirer processor 22 can thendetermine the customer loyalty account number 40 that is linked to MIpayment vehicle account number 52. The acquirer processor 22 can thenprovide transaction data for the purchase to the customer loyaltyprogram 36 for the customer's customer loyalty account number 40. In oneembodiment, the transaction data can comprise stock keeping unit (SKU)data of the items purchased from the merchant 16. In such an embodiment,the SKU data can be provided to the customer loyalty program 36 for thecustomer to facilitate tracking of the specific items purchased by thecustomer in the customer's customer loyalty account.

If the customer's customer loyalty account number 40 becomes invalid,such as when the customer loyalty program 36 issues a new account numberto the customer, the acquirer processor 22 can receive an updatedcustomer loyalty account number from the customer loyalty program 36 andcan link the updated customer loyalty account number to the MI paymentvehicle account number 52. As a result, the integrity of the MI paymentvehicle 42 can be preserved without requiring input from the accountholder 13 regarding the updated customer loyalty account number.

Although the acquirer processor 22 is described above as linking acustomer's preexisting financial account to an MI payment vehicle, theprocess can be performed by one or more of a merchant, an acquirerprocessor, an issuer process, an issuing financial institution, or othertypes of third party entities within a payment ecosystem.

The processes described above can be performed on or between one or morecomputing devices 600. Referring now to FIG. 4, an example computingdevice 600 is presented. A computing device 600 can be a server, acomputing device that is integrated with other systems or subsystems, amobile computing device, a cloud-based computing capability, and soforth. The computing device 600 can be any suitable computing device aswould be understood in the art, including without limitation, a customchip, an embedded processing device, a tablet computing device, amerchant computing system 18, a payment processing computer system 24, apayment processing computer system 28, a personal data assistant (PDA),a desktop, a laptop, a microcomputer, a minicomputer, a server, amainframe, or any other suitable programmable device. In variousembodiments disclosed herein, a single component can be replaced bymultiple components and multiple components can be replaced by a singlecomponent to perform a given function or functions. Except where suchsubstitution would not be operative, such substitution is within theintended scope of the embodiments.

The computing device 600 includes a processor 602 that can be anysuitable type of processing unit, for example a general purpose centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), aprocessor that has a pipeline or multiple processing capabilityincluding having multiple cores, a complex instruction set computer(CISC), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logic devices (PLD), and afield programmable gate array (FPGA), among others. The computingresources can also include distributed computing devices, cloudcomputing resources, and virtual computing resources in general.

The computing device 600 also includes one or more memories 606, forexample read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memoryassociated with the processor 602, or other memories such as dynamic RAM(DRAM), static ram (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyerasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memory, a removable memory card or disk, asolid state drive, and so forth. The computing device 600 also includesstorage media such as a storage device that can be configured to havemultiple modules, such as magnetic disk drives, floppy drives, tapedrives, hard drives, optical drives and media, magneto-optical drivesand media, compact disk drives, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), asuitable type of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) or BluRay disk, and soforth. Storage media such as flash drives, solid state hard drives,redundant array of individual disks (RAID), virtual drives, networkeddrives and other memory means including storage media on the processor602, or memories 606 are also contemplated as storage devices. It can beappreciated that such memory can be internal or external with respect tooperation of the disclosed embodiments. It can be appreciated thatcertain portions of the processes described herein can be performedusing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium or media thatdirect a computer system to perform the process steps. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media, as used herein, comprises all computer-readablemedia except for transitory, propagating signals.

Network and communication interfaces 612 can be configured to transmitto, or receive data from, other computing devices 600 across a network614. The network and communication interfaces 612 can be an Ethernetinterface, a radio interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, orany other suitable communications interface and can include receivers,transmitter, and transceivers. For purposes of clarity, a transceivercan be referred to as a receiver or a transmitter when referring to onlythe input or only the output functionality of the transceiver. Examplecommunication interfaces 612 can include wired data transmission linkssuch as Ethernet and TCP/IP. The communication interfaces 612 caninclude wireless protocols for interfacing with private or publicnetworks 614. For example, the network and communication interfaces 612and protocols can include interfaces for communicating with privatewireless networks such as a WiFi network, one of the IEEE 802.11x familyof networks, or another suitable wireless network. The network andcommunication interfaces 612 can include interfaces and protocols forcommunicating with public wireless networks 612, using for examplewireless protocols used by cellular network providers, including CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM). A computing device 600 can use network andcommunication interfaces 612 to communicate with hardware modules suchas a database or data store, or one or more servers or other networkedcomputing resources. Data can be encrypted or protected fromunauthorized access.

In various configurations, the computing device 600 can include a systembus 616 for interconnecting the various components of the computingdevice 600, or the computing device 600 can be integrated into one ormore chips such as programmable logic device or application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC). The system bus 616 can include a memorycontroller, a local bus, or a peripheral bus for supporting input andoutput devices 604, and communication interfaces 612. Example input andoutput devices 604 include keyboards, keypads, gesture or graphicalinput devices, motion input devices, touchscreen interfaces, one or moredisplays, audio units, voice recognition units, vibratory devices,computer mice, and any other suitable user interface.

The processor 602 and memory 606 can include nonvolatile memory forstoring computer-readable instructions, data, data structures, programmodules, code, microcode, and other software components for storing thecomputer-readable instructions in non-transitory computer-readablemediums in connection with the other hardware components for carryingout the methodologies described herein. Software components can includesource code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, staticcode, dynamic code, encrypted code, or any other suitable type of codeor computer instructions implemented using any suitable high-level,low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled, or interpreted programminglanguage.

These and other embodiments of the systems and methods can be used aswould be recognized by those skilled in the art. The above descriptionsof various systems and methods are intended to illustrate specificexamples and describe certain ways of making and using the systemsdisclosed and described here. These descriptions are neither intended tobe nor should be taken as an exhaustive list of the possible ways inwhich these systems can be made and used. A number of modifications,including substitutions of systems between or among examples andvariations among combinations can be made. Those modifications andvariations should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in this areaafter having read this disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving an enrollment communication from a merchant computing device,the enrollment communication comprising a payment vehicle accountnumber, wherein the payment vehicle account number is associated with apreexisting financial account, and wherein the merchant computing deviceis associated with a merchant; subsequent to receiving the enrollmentcommunication from the merchant computing device, linking a merchantissued payment vehicle to the payment vehicle account number, whereinthe merchant issued payment vehicle is associated with a merchant issuedpayment vehicle account number, wherein the payment vehicle accountnumber is different from the merchant issued payment vehicle accountnumber; and subsequent to linking the merchant issued payment vehicle tothe payment vehicle account number, changing the linked payment vehicleaccount number to an updated payment vehicle account number.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: linking themerchant issued payment vehicle to a consumer loyalty program associatedwith the merchant.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein linking the merchant issued payment vehicle to a consumerloyalty program associated with the merchant comprises linking themerchant issued payment vehicle account number to the consumer loyaltyprogram.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, comprising:linking the merchant issued payment vehicle account number to a customerloyalty account number of the customer loyalty program; and subsequentto linking the merchant issued payment vehicle to the customer loyaltyaccount number, changing the customer loyalty account number to anupdated customer loyalty account number.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the payment vehicle account number isassociated with a PIN-based payment vehicle.
 6. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the payment vehicle account number isassociated with a debit card.
 7. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the payment vehicle account number is associated with astored value card.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the payment vehicle account number is associated with a giftcard.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the paymentvehicle account number is associated with a gift prepaid.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising: subsequent tolinking a merchant issued payment vehicle to the payment vehicle accountnumber, receiving transaction data from the merchant computing device,the transaction data comprising the merchant issued payment vehicleaccount number and a request for funds.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 10, wherein the transaction data comprises a PIN numberassociated with the preexisting financial account linked to the merchantissued payment vehicle.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11,comprising: determining whether the preexisting financial account linkedto the merchant issued payment vehicle has sufficient funds for anamount requested in the transaction data.
 13. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 10, wherein the transaction data comprises stock keepingunit (SKU) data.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,comprising: when the payment vehicle account number is not valid,linking the merchant issued payment vehicle to the preexisting financialaccount to an updated payment vehicle account number received from anissuer of the payment vehicle for the preexisting financial account. 15.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the merchant issuedpayment vehicle is a card having the merchant issued payment vehicleaccount number encoded on it.
 16. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the merchant issued payment vehicle account number isunique.
 17. A merchant issued payment vehicle system, comprising: amerchant issued payment vehicle having a unique identification numberencoded on the merchant issued payment vehicle, the uniqueidentification number linked to an account number associated with anaccount, the account being associated with a PIN-based payment vehicleand a customer loyalty program of a merchant; and a payment processorconfigured to: receive an authorization request from a merchantcomputing device when the merchant issued payment vehicle is introducedto the merchant computing device, wherein the authorization requestcomprises the unique identification number and a requested fund amount;when sufficient funds are available in the account, cause an amount ofavailable funds in the account associated with the PIN-based paymentvehicle to be decreased by the requested fund amount; and wheninsufficient funds are available, provide a nonsufficient funds messageto the merchant computing device.
 18. The merchant issued paymentvehicle system of claim 17, wherein the PIN-based payment vehicle is anyof a debit card, a prepaid card, a stored value card and a gift card.19. The merchant issued payment vehicle system of claim 17, wherein thepayment processor is configured to link the unique identification numberto an updated account number when the account number is not valid forprocessing.
 20. The merchant issued payment vehicle system of claim 19,wherein the payment processor is configured to: communicate with anissuer financial institution associated with the PIN-based paymentvehicle, and receive the updated account number from the issuerfinancial institution.
 21. A method, comprising: activating a merchantissued payment vehicle associated with a merchant, wherein activatingthe merchant issued payment vehicle comprises: receiving at a paymentprocessor in communication with a merchant computing device of themerchant, an account number of a PIN-based payment vehicle of acustomer; linking a unique account number of the merchant issued paymentvehicle to the account number of the PIN-based payment vehicle of acustomer; and linking the unique account number of the merchant issuedpayment vehicle to a customer loyalty account of the merchant.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, comprising: subsequent to activating the merchantissued payment vehicle associated with the merchant, receiving a requestfor funds from the merchant computing device when the unique accountnumber of the merchant issued payment vehicle is provided to themerchant computing device; determining that the unique account number ofthe merchant issued payment vehicle is linked to the account number ofthe PIN-based payment vehicle of a customer; determining if the accountidentified by the account number has sufficient funds; and providing tothe merchant computing device a response to the request for funds. 23.The method of claim 21, comprising: when the account number of thePIN-based payment vehicle of the customer is changed, linking the uniqueaccount number of the merchant issued payment vehicle to an updatedaccount number.